FORA falters in picking executive committee members

What would normally be the simplest of exercises has turned into an apparent struggle over the direction of the Fort Ord Reuse Authority.

For the second month in a row, the FORA board failed to elect its full executive committee, deadlocking 6-6 between Supervisor Jane Parker and Sand City Mayor Dave Pendergrass for member at large. The swing vote, Supervisor Dave Potter, was absent from the meeting.

Given Potter's often-cool relationship with Parker, Pendergrass is a safe bet.

Monterey City Councilwoman Nancy Selfridge, who voted for Parker, said Friday's vote split down pro-development and "smart growth" lines.

Del Rey Oaks Mayor Jerry Edelen, who was elected board chairman, planned to bring the matter back at a special meeting this Friday. However, Parker is scheduled to be out of town, so he put it off until March 16.

Outside of the full board, the executive committee is considered the most powerful. It establishes all agendas and conducts annual reviews of the executive officer and authority counsel. It also makes recommendations to the entire board, which are often followed.

Friday marked the second time the board voted for committee members this year. In January, it elected a nominated slate of Edelen as chairman; Marina Mayor Pro Tem Frank O'Connell, first vice-chairman; Seaside Mayor Ralph Rubio, second vice-chairman; Potter, past chairman; and Pendergrass as member at large.

Parker and Carmel Mayor Jason Burnett were also nominated, but each lost on an 8-5 vote.

That election was later voided as illegal because it was taken on a secret ballot rather than voice vote on the direction of Potter and FORA counsel Jerry Bowden. The public was also denied the opportunity to comment before the vote.

Confusion reigned when the issue returned Friday, with prolonged discussion over how the vote should be taken. Eventually Edelen and O'Connell were unanimously confirmed.

Then came the vote for second vice-chair, for which Parker and Rubio were nominated.

Supporters for Rubio, a carpenter's union leader who retook his mayoral seat in the November election, reasoned that he should replace former Seaside Mayor Felix Bachofner as second vice-chairman, maintaining the city's representation on the committee.

Backers of the progressive Parker said FORA's bylaws call for rotation of officers and Rubio had served a stint as FORA chairman during his last term as Seaside mayor. Parker lost on a 7-5 vote, with Pacific Grove Mayor Bill Kampe delivering the deciding vote.

But when Pendergrass came up against Parker, also nominated as member at large, Kampe switched his vote and gave Parker the nod and a 6-6 tie.

Parker said she believes she deserves to be on the powerful committee because she is the only board member who represents all of Fort Ord, as well as all of Marina and parts of Seaside and Salinas.

According to the 2010 census, Parker's District 4 represents 79,183 residents. As mayor of Sand City, Pendergrass represents 334.

Pendergrass has already served at least four terms on the executive committee, an apparent violation of the spirit, if not the letter, of the FORA bylaws that call for no officer to serve more than two consecutive terms. Bowden, FORA's counsel, has stated the rule does not apply to Pendergrass because he is a member at large, not an officer.

Parker said officer rotations are a healthy policy and the norm on most public boards.

"I feel like the vote shows other people on the FORA board recognize some rotation is a good idea," she said. "FORA has been under quite a bit of scrutiny and has been discovered to be not necessarily very transparent or responsive or having the best internal protocols.

"At least some of the FORA board members feel the kind of perspective I bring might help FORA correct some of these things before they become a public embarrassment."

The vote mirrors the power struggle seen in the "guiding principles," an effort by the land-use jurisdictions, since torpedoed, to exclude the cities of Carmel, Pacific Grove, Sand City and Salinas from land-use decisions on Fort Ord.

Edelen said it was because of the guiding principles that he was supporting Pendergrass, as a representative of a non-land-use jurisdiction.

"The bottom line for me is we have already one 600-pound gorilla on the committee in Dave Potter," he said. "I really don't think we need another supervisor on the committee."

Ironically, Bowden informed the board after it had elected Rubio as second vice-chairman that the position for past chairman was not necessarily reserved for the immediate past chair. The board could have elected Rubio for that position and Parker as second-chairwoman, replacing Potter as the only supervisor on the committee.

Bowden said it was too late after the fact for the board to make the switch.

While Edelen took the executive committee off the agenda for Friday's special meeting, the board will take up another controversial vote. On Friday, the board restored the original "formulaic approach" for setting developer fees. At Parker's suggestion, clarifying language had been added to the regulation, maintaining FORA's authority over its capital improvement projects.

Developers had threatened to pull projects planned for Marina if the language was not removed. The board met that demand on a 10-1 vote, with Parker dissenting. It must take a second vote Friday because the first was not unanimous.